Communications services are commonly required in buildings, including in multi-level buildings having a plurality of levels. In large buildings, and even in buildings having only a few levels, an antenna sub-system on one level or floor may not be able to reliably communicate with electronic devices on other levels, even when on immediately adjacent levels. Communications services being provided to a large, multi-level building often require additional hardware devices in order to provide communications to all levels or floors.
A communication system inside a multi-level building is coupled to an external communication link. The communication system is further coupled to a bus or signal conductor system that extends to all levels of the multi-level building. A plurality of antenna sub-systems are coupled to the bus or signal conductor system, with each antenna sub-system of the plurality of antenna sub-systems being located on a separate level of the building. By installing an antenna sub-system on each level, reliable communications can be generated for all users and all user devices in the multi-level building, regardless how far they are from the communication equipment that is coupled to the external communication link.
A Base Transceiver Station (BTS) is coupled to the external communication link. The BTS exchanges communications between the multi-level building and the external communication link, wherein the external communication link may further connect to one or more communication networks or communication systems. The BTS creates an internal digital data stream from the incoming communications and a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) receives the digital data stream from the BTS. The RRU processes the plurality of sub-streams and creates a plurality of analog sub-streams that are ready for emission from the plurality of antenna sub-systems. The processing therefore includes addressing and/or separating the data to form the plurality of sub-streams, wherein the RRU distributes the plurality of sub-streams to the bus or signal conductor system and to the plurality of antenna sub-systems. The processing may also include buffering and isolation of the individual sub-streams and may include amplification and signal conditioning of the individual sub-streams. As a result, the RRU can control the signal power at each antenna sub-system.
The BTS has the capability and the programming to manage the exchange of communications between the external communication link and the distributed antenna system. However, because of the RRU positioned between the BTS and the distributed antenna network, the BTS is not aware of the data and/or signals that are actually being emitted by the plurality of antenna sub-systems. In addition, because of the RRU, the BTS is not aware of the data and/or signals that are actually being received by the RRU from the plurality of antenna sub-systems.
Overview
Systems and methods for monitoring a distributed antenna system are provided herein. In one example, an antenna monitoring system configured to monitor a distributed antenna system in a multi-level building includes a plurality of analog-to-digital (A/D) converters configured to receive a corresponding plurality of tapped antenna signals from a plurality of antenna sub-systems comprising the distributed antenna system and generate a plurality of digitized antenna signals, and an antenna monitor coupled to the plurality of A/D converters and coupled to a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) of the distributed antenna system, with the antenna monitor comprising a storage system configured to store an antenna monitor routine and a plurality of per-antenna information, a communication transceiver configured to transfer the plurality of per-antenna information to the BTS, and a processing system coupled to the storage system and the communication transceiver, with the processing system configured to receive the plurality of digitized antenna signals from the plurality of A/D converters, reverse-process the plurality of digitized antenna signals to generate the plurality of per-antenna information, and feed the plurality of per-antenna information back to the BTS, with the BTS using the plurality of per-antenna information to monitor the plurality of antenna sub-systems.
In an example of an antenna monitoring method configured to monitor a distributed antenna system, the method includes tapping an antenna signal at each antenna sub-system of a plurality of antenna sub-systems comprising the distributed antenna system to generate a plurality of tapped antenna signals, digitizing the plurality of tapped antenna signal to generate a plurality of digitized antenna signals, reverse-processing the plurality of digitized antenna signals to generate a plurality of per-antenna information, and feeding the plurality of per-antenna information back to the distributed antenna system, with the distributed antenna system using the plurality of per-antenna information to monitor the plurality of antenna sub-systems.
In an example of one or more computer-readable storage media having program instructions stored thereon for monitoring a distributed antenna system that, when executed by a processing system, directs the processing system to at least receive a plurality of digitized antenna signals, reverse-process the plurality of digitized antenna signals to generate a plurality of per-antenna information, and feed the plurality of per-antenna information back to the BTS, with the BTS using the plurality of per-antenna information to monitor the plurality of antenna sub-systems.